Social Studies Alive! My Community Lesson 13

Lesson 13

How Can One Person Make a Difference?

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Lesson 13 How Can One Person Make a Difference?

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All communities have problems. They solve their problems in different ways.

Vocabulary

The people in this photo are holding a

inventor

clothing drive. They are helping people in need. This makes the community a better place to live.

In this lesson, you will read about people who have solved problems in their communities. They have helped people in many different ways.

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Preview Activity What problem would you like to help solve in your

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community? Draw a picture and write a sentence to show what you would like to do.

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Vocabulary Activity An inventor thinks of new things and then builds them.

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The things they build are called inventions. Circle all the inventions you see here.

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Lesson 13 How Can One Person Make a Difference?

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Hands-On Activity

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Discover the actions that four courageous community leaders took to help their communities.

Directions: Learning How Four People Made a Difference in Their Communities 1. Get into groups of three. Together you will learn about four community leaders.

2. Observe: Watch a video about someone who solved problems in their community.

3. Discuss: • What community problems did you learn about?

• What actions could have been taken to solve them?

4. Read: Learn about the actions the community leader took to solve the problems in their community.

5. Record: In your Activity Notes, write down the problem each community leader faced and what action they took.

6. Repeat Steps 2–5 until you have met all four individuals!

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1. Jane Addams Gave Children a Place to Play Jane Addams lived from 1860 to 1935. She lived in the city of Chicago, Illinois. There, she saw children playing in the dirty, crowded streets. She knew the children were not safe.

Addams wanted to help. She rented a building where children could play and be safe. She called it Hull House. Addams

Jane Addams helped

also built Chicago’s first playground.

children play safely in

Jane Addams saw a problem in her

her community.

community and solved it.

Before Hull House, children played in crowded, dirty streets.

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2. Garrett A. Morgan Made His Community Safer Garrett A. Morgan lived from 1877 to 1963. He lived in Cleveland, Ohio.

He was an inventor. An inventor thinks of new things, such as machines, to solve problems. An inventor often builds things, too.

Morgan thought the streets of his city were very crowded. Traffic lights had no delay between “Go” and “Stop.” So, cars often crashed into each other.

Morgan invented a traffic light that had three commands. Cars had time to slow down between “Go” and “Stop.”

Morgan’s new traffic light helped keep the people of Cleveland safe.

Garrett A. Morgan invented a traffic light with three commands.

Cars often crashed into each other before Garrett A. Morgan’s invention.

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3. Susan La Flesche Picotte Helped Sick People Susan La Flesche Picotte (la FLESH pih-KAHT) lived from 1865 to 1915. She was a Native American. She lived in the state of Nebraska. Often, there was no doctor to care for the sick in her community.

Sometimes, White doctors refused to care for Native Americans, so it was very

Susan La Flesche

difficult to find help.

Picotte was a doctor

As an adult, Susan went to school and became a doctor. She wanted to care for

who helped the sick in her community.

Native Americans in her community.

She rode a horse to visit her patients.

Later, she started a hospital. Susan helped her community by caring for sick people.

Dr. Picotte helped many members of the Omaha tribe in her hospital.

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4. Luis Valdez Helped Farmworkers Luis Valdez was born in 1940. He lived in a community of farmworkers in California. They often had to live in unfair living conditions. After long work days, they went home to houses that were falling apart. They did not have clean water sources for bathing and drinking.

Valdez wrote plays about how hard their lives were. He had actors perform his

Luis Valdez wanted to

plays from farm to farm.

show the challenges of

Valdez showed the challenges and

being a farmworker.

struggles of being a farmworker. He showed how people could help them.

In the 1940s, many farmworkers lived in poor conditions. © Teachers’ Curriculum Institute

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Hands-On Activity Notes Fill in information about each person who made a

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difference in their community.

Section 1

What problem did Jane Addams face?

Jane Addams Draw the action she took to solve the problem.

Section 2

What problem did Garrett A. Morgan face?

Garrett A. Morgan Draw the action he took to solve the problem.

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Section 3

What problem did Susan La Flesche Picotte face?

Susan La Flesche Picotte Draw the action she took to solve the problem.

Section 4

What problem did Luis Valdez face?

Luis Valdez Draw the action he took to solve the problem.

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Summary All communities have problems to solve. Sometimes, one person thinks of an idea to help make a community better. Some people help keep their communities safe. Some help care for the sick or teach people about others.

Show What You Know The president awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to Americans who make important contributions to our nation.

Circle a community leader and “present” the award to them.

Write what you might say when presenting the award.

Jane Addams

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Garrett A. Morgan

Lesson 13 How Can One Person Make a Difference?

Susan La Flesche Picotte

Luis Valdez

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